HANOVER, January 10th - For the first time, there is an official international ruleset for riichi mahjong. Mahjong Holland, a group of enthusiastic mahjong players within the Dutch Mahjong league, has designed these rules in cooperation with Mahjong Denmark.

In Europe, riichi mahjong is played on a pretty large scale in Denmark and the Netherlands. So, for the Open European Riichi Mahjong Championship (to be held later this year for the very first time), the Dutch and the Danish players fine-tuned their rules.

Sjef Strik (picture left), one of the Dutch organizers of the event and the winner of the recent Dutch Kinryu Majan Taikai riichi tournament: 'The rule sets were pretty much the same, but there were also differences. I have exchanged many e-mails with Tina Christensen, the Danih mahjong expert.' The two were advised by Mr. Benjamin Boas, an American who is studying mahjong culture in Japan on a Fullbright scholarship, and Ms. Jenn Barr, an American who is a professional mahjong player in Japan.

These Japanese contact persons were important, since the Europeans want the rules for the EC Riichi to be as much the same as the Japanese rules as possible. Yet, some decisions had to be made, since also in Japan, there are differences between the rules of the various mahjong organisations.

To read and download the International Riichi Mahjong Rules >>

More about riichi mahjong:

 Wikipedia >>

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